101 things to do instead of binge eating

Date: February 2, 2011

Author: Leora Fulvio

Distractions! Here are 101 things that you can do instead of bingeing. And many of them don’t require deep introspection or recovery activities. They’re just straight up good healthy ways to distract yourself when you want to binge. Sometimes you might just be able to distract yourself right out of a binge.

1.)Call a friend, your sponsor, a support person, anyone who you can talk to who will either get your mind off of food, or someone to talk to about whatever it is that you might be feeling.

10.)Get organized sort out your bills, create a budget– organize your home, your closet, your life! Often getting organized can help you feel more in control and enable you to thwart a binge, which can often feel very out of control.

11.)Draw, paint or color.

12.)Knit or do needlepoint

13.)Take a nap

14.)Get out of your house and into your car, go to the beach, the lake, the park… somewhere pretty and relaxing.

15.)Clean out your closet, donate your old clothes or sell them on eBay.

16.)Go window shopping.

17.)Read a good book.

18.)Clean!

19.)Put on music and dance it out.

20.)Go out dancing.

21.)Call your friends over and have a dance party.

22.)Go to the gym.

23.)Stretch, go to a yoga class, do a yoga DVD or an exercise or yoga class on OnDemand cable.

24.)Take a relaxing bath with nice bath salts or essential oils.

25.)Write in your journal

26.)Move! Do jumping jacks, run in place, anything to move a little energy and release some tension.

52.)Write an angry letter to whomever you are holding anger at. You don’t have to send it, just let it out. Afterwards, put it somewhere safe. You might let go of some emotions that you’d been stuffing and you might find that you no longer have the urge to binge.

55.)Do karaoke, you can either go out to do it, or do it at home with OnDemand Cable if you have it.

56.)Water your plants– if you don’t have any, go out and buy some plants!

57.)Go through your closet and donate all clothes that are too big, too small, out of date or unworn. Keep the clothes that you feel good about yourself in.

58.)Zone out in front of the TV, catch up on your shows– as long as television is not a binge trigger.

59.)Play music! If you play an instrument, whip it out and start playing. If not, teach yourself to play one. Beat on some bongos, ping a triangle, strum a guitar, whatever is convenient to you. If nothing, make an instrument out of household objects and play it.

60.)Tell the binge that you are stronger than it. You are stronger than the urge to binge. Just because you want to, doesn’t mean you have to.

*Whirling Dervish (wurl-ing dur-vish) n. 1. A mystical dancer who stands between the material and cosmic worlds. His dance is part of a sacred ceremony in which the dervish rotates in a precise rhythm. He represents the earth revolving on its axis whileorbiting the sun. The purpose of the ritual whirling is for the dervish to empty himself of all distracting thoughts, placing him in trance; released from his body he conquers dizziness.

69.)Light candles and incense and relax

70.)Explore your neighborhood or town.

71.)Call a friend or relative who has been unhappy lately and needing some support. Sometimes giving support can be incredibly heartening and also supports the supporter.

74.)Search through your couch and house for change! Put everything you can in a jar and put it aside to start a fund for yourself as a motivator in your recovery. Every time you reach a milestone (ie: no bingeing or restricting for one week) you can buy yourself something fun, like a new pair of shoes, or some jewelry or new CD, or whatever you like within reason.

75.)Write a long, heart wrenching letter and stick it in a bottle and send it off.

76.)Roll on your back. This is a spinal massage that helps you to feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

80.)Write out your intentions or personal goals for yourself for the week. Write out both long term and short term goals- things that you are striving for and ways to help you get there.

81.)Throw a temper tantrum! Go into your bedroom, lay on your stomach in your bed and scream into your pillow while you kick your legs and punch your hands into the bed. Ever see kids do this? They expend all that energy and it moves right through them. As adults, we can’t really do this and lots of anger and pain winds up feeling stuck in the body. We often try to stuff that down with food and for some, get rid of it by purging.

82.)Plan a party or get together or weekend trip with your friends.

83.)Go bowling, play pool, play golf or miniature golf, play basketball, hit tennis balls, go to a batting cage.

101.)Fight Procrastination! Do homework, write that paper you’ve been putting off, work on your dissertation (ahem…)

Would you like more tips, support, and help to stop binge eating, compulsive eating, stress eating and emotional eating? Sign up for my newsletter and receive lots of support to help you stop binge eating once and for all. And if, you would like to receive a FREE 20 minute Mindful Eating Meditation in addition to the valuable newsletter OPT IN RIGHT HERE!

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No, in fact close to 40% of ED sufferers are male. This is a non-gendered list with activities meant for all genders and interests. Certain folks will resonate with some ideas, certain will resonate with others.

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